Ben & Tony
by madame.alexandra
Summary: Tony gets to know the Boss's son. Benjamin Universe! Jibbs, Tony and the baby Gibbs! Fluff, fun, etc.
1. Stork

_a/n: three piece collection that centers around baby Ben and Tony DiNozzo ! [in no particular order]_

* * *

**January, 2001**

* * *

February had just dawned, and already Tony DiNozzo had sworn off _weirdness._

He was confident he'd had enough disconcerting absurdity to last him the year—it was bad enough that the new female team member he'd been so excited for had ended up being Gibbs' fiancée, it was worse that the part-time agent Gibbs had hired was some nerdy whiz-kid from MIT, and the whole dynamic of Gibbs-and-Shepard was slowly driving Very Special Agent Anthony insane as he tried to figure out what exactly was going on there—so: he was swearing off weirdness.

He was determined in his decision, and eager to begin participating only in normalness, which was why he thought he might actually burst into tears when he walked into the bullpen bright and early–and slightly late, to keep things normal—and saw a baby sleeping on Gibbs' desk.

He stopped dead in his tracks, and stared.

If Gibbs' desk had been as god awfully cluttered as his own was, he might have persuaded himself to overlook the innocent, lumpy bundle, and pretend it was just a gym shirt or something, but since Gibbs' desk was practically empty except for cell phone and perpetually dead computer, it was impossible to ignore a sleeping human child on top of it.

DiNozzo squinted slightly, and then blinked slowly—he wasn't dreaming; there was definitely a baby there.

It was surrounded by a blue blanket, so he assumed it—he—was a boy baby, and it—_he_—was asleep on his stomach with his very small thumb near his very small open mouth.

He continued to stare, and then a shuffling noise caught his attention and he whipped to his left, narrowing his eyes immediately and glaring—he'd been so distracted by the _infant_ sleeping on Gibbs' _desk_ that he'd failed to notice Shepard was at _her_ desk—and apparently completely oblivious to her surroundings. He glared at her bent red head aggressively for a silent moment, willing her to look up from her case reports, and when she didn't, he cleared his throat loudly and pointedly.

"Shepard," he hissed.

She paused, and looked up, cocking an eyebrow—she was always here _early_, for some reason; NCIS agents started work at seven, but Shepard was always in at five—and she always left two hours early, and on Fridays she only worked half a day—which was why, DiNozzo assumed, Gibbs had hired that geeky kid.

The erratic nature of Shepard's work schedule was one of the things that had been wigging DiNozzo out since the new year started—that, and of course the fact that she was having a legitimate, real-life relationship with Gibbs and even though there was a ring on her finger, she never mentioned a wedding or a single, minute detail about her or their personal life—and DiNozzo was dying to know the dirty details.

She looked at him mildly for a moment and then started to look back down. He stomped his foot and thrust his hand out, snapping quietly.

"Shepard," he hissed again. "There's a baby on Gibbs' desk," he informed her.

She followed his hand, and lifted her eyebrows lightly, expressing no discernible amount of shock or confusion—which frustrated DiNozzo immensely. It had become his mission in life to somehow faze Shepard; she was the most obnoxious newbie team member to have around because she was so infuriatingly … _good_.

"I think it might be human," Shepard said neutrally, cocking her head.

DiNozzo glared at her.

"You didn't happen to see who put it there?"

"It?" Shepard quoted, turning her probing eyes on him. She narrowed them slightly.

"Him," corrected DiNozzo. "Women," he muttered under his breath, and then went on quickly before Shepard could catch that: "You didn't notice a random baby sleeping on Gibbs' desk?"

She blinked slowly, and glanced back over—of course she had noticed; she had put him there, after all. She made it her business to know exactly where her son was at all times. However—she had found that her favorite past time since returning to the home office was eroding the mental stability of Tony DiNozzo, and she was so ruthless in her mind games with him that even Gibbs growled at her to back off.

"I was otherwise occupied," Shepard remarked primly.

DiNozzo blinked.

"Otherwise," he started, and then cut himself off. The baby moved, and DiNozzo nearly had a heart attack, leaping forward, and then freezing. "What if he rolls off the desk?" he hissed in a panic.

She glanced over, eyeing the baby critically—there was minimal risk of that; he rarely rolled over when he was awake, much less in his sleep; he was still getting the hang of it. She tilted her head, and glanced back at DiNozzo, and gave a tiny shrug.

"Who the hell does he belong to?" DiNozzo hissed.

"Maybe he's Gibbs'," Jenny remarked logically.

DiNozzo sneered.

"He doesn't have kids," he scoffed. He snorted. "Don't you think _you'd_ notice if he had a kid?" he demanded, nodding at her ring finger.

She wiggled it slightly, and smirked.

"I think I'd notice," she agreed calmly.

She glanced at her sleeping baby again—she'd brought him with her to work this morning because he had a pediatrician's appointment at eight, and it was easier than coming in, leaving him with Gibbs, going home, switching—et cetera. It was also Gibbs' turn to take him for vaccinations—Jenny hated holding him while he screamed and cried.

He hadn't been formally introduced to anyone yet—not even Abby—and she was enjoying watching DiNozzo have a heart attack.

It wasn't that they were keeping Benjamin a secret, it just—hadn't come up. Gibbs was pathologically private about his home life, and Jenny saw no need to act against that.

DiNozzo took a few steps closer, looking around warily.

"Where is the Boss?"

"MTAC."

"What if it—he—wakes up?" DiNozzo whispered loudly, peering down at the baby from a safe distance. He looked exasperated, and groaned softly. "Where did he _come_ from?"

"The stork, DiNozzo," Jenny retorted, deadpan.

He turned is head and glared at her in annoyance. She blinked calmly, and then pointed her pen primly at Gibbs' desk.

"You better tell him," she advised.

"_You_ tell him!" squawked DiNozzo. "You're the one who sat here and just missed someone dropping a baby on his desk!"

She blinked in small amusement—was DiNozzo really this thickly convinced he knew everything about Gibbs' life? She resisted the urge to burst into laughter and kept her face neutral.

DiNozzo glared at her, faltered, and then downgraded to an uncertain stare, and then the baby squirmed a little and moved his feet. Jenny immediately recognized his quiet, sniffling waking up sounds and leaned back slightly to keep an eye on him and watch DiNozzo flounder. DiNozzo turned pale and gave the moving baby an alarmed look.

"It moved!"

"It might turn into a werewolf next," Shepard remarked blithely.

He glared at her.

"I hate you," he groused balefully, and then dropped his backpack to the ground—she watched as he tip-toed dramatically to the Boss's desk and looked down reluctantly—and then to her surprise, he picked Benjamin up.

She trusted DiNozzo not to injure a child, but the action was unexpected, so she started forward, her face changing sharply—he didn't notice; he held Benjamin firmly, staring right into his sleepy little face.

"Ha," snorted DiNozzo uneasily. "He kind of looks like—"

"Me?"

DiNozzo let out a terrified yelp and jolted forward—though to his credit, he didn't drop the baby, or squeeze him too hard. Pale, he winced and shot a betrayed glare at Jenny—she could have warned him _El Jefe_ was standing right behind him—

"DiNozzo," growled Gibbs menacingly, "why've you got my son?"

Jenny leaned casually back in her chair and watched. Benjamin kicked his feet unhappily, waking up a little more and realizing a stranger was holding him.

"Your—" DiNozzo spluttered. "He's—your," he broke off again, looking at the baby, then Gibbs, then Jenny—then Gibbs again. "_What_?" he asked helplessly.

Gibbs finished his coffee, chucked it in the wastebasket, and took Benjamin from DiNozzo before the baby started crying, giving DiNozzo a nice head-slap for good measure. He settled the baby against his chest comfortably and took his keys from his desk, giving Jenny an annoyed look. She smiled sweetly, and leaned forward, taking Benjamin's embroidered, monogrammed bag from beneath her desk. Gibbs swiped it from her on his way past and narrowed his eyes.

"You could've just told 'im he was yours," he growled at her.

She wrinkled her nose primly.

"What's the fun in that?" she asked, turning her eyes back to DiNozzo and basking in his baffled, outraged expression.

Gibbs rolled his eyes, smirked, and glanced at his watch.

"Drop 'im off with Noemi after the shots?" he grunted.

She nodded, and he tilted his head.

"Coffee?" he asked.

She shook her head, and Gibbs headed out to take Benjamin for his shots—leaving DiNozzo gaping like a startled fish in the middle of the bullpen. He rounded on Jenny, giving her the meanest glare he could muster, and she cocked her head at him blithely.

"You shouldn't have picked him up," she advised sagely. "Jethro is very protective."

"You _forget_ to mention he was _your_ baby?" DiNozzo demanded sarcastically.

She beamed smugly.

"His name is Benjamin," she said, relenting. "He's eight months old."

DiNozzo still glared, but after a moment, he straightened up, and looked back over at Gibbs' desk—the blue blanket was still laying there, all wrinkled and soft. He cocked his head.

"Huh," he said, his expression thoughtful. He cracked a small grin, and turned a charming, sparkly eye on her. "You don't look like you've had a baby," he drawled.

She pointed a sharp nail at him wryly.

"I wouldn't let Jethro hear you say that," she remarked, and then bit her lip, smiling proudly. "He's cute, isn't he? We call him Ben."

In spite of himself, DiNozzo grinned—he kind of liked the idea of a miniature copy of Gibbs—and, considering the circumstance, Tony was never going to forget the first time he met Ben.

* * *

**January, 2001**

* * *

_"Ben & Tony" you know, kind of like "Ben & Jerry's" ? :)_

_-alexandra  
story #184_


	2. Mine!

_a/n: Benjamin has a little possessive stage... :D_

* * *

**November, 2002**

* * *

She had fully expected Benjamin's first Thanksgiving at Ducky's lovely historic manor to be a pleasant affair—she remembered how warm and delicious and heartfelt her Thanksgiving here had been the year before she left for Europe with Gibbs. His first Thanksgiving, he'd been in Italy with her, and his second had been a small affair with just herself and Gibbs—but now the team was bigger, and the realities of her relationship with Gibbs were more familiar to everyone, so she'd been happy with Ducky's invitation.

Benjamin—had other ideas. In the throes of his moody terrible twos, he was acting out in several disconcerting ways: he resorted often to biting to get his point across, and he'd grown obsessively attached to his father—which he emphasized with his new favorite word—

_"Mine!"_ Benjamin whined, his face red and teary, as Jenny approached, pushing her hand through her hair with an exasperated, annoyed look on her face.

Gibbs had Benjamin on his hip while he checked the stuffing he was making—Victoria Mallard was too old to cook now, so he and Ducky did the majority of the work, with Abby providing dessert.

Benjamin clung to his father, alternating between sniffling and crying unhappily, shooting glares at everyone around him, and kicking his feet insistently at any Corgi that came too near to Gibbs' feet.

"Mine!" he shrieked down at a dog, and looked up tearfully at Jenny. His little face crumpled, and his expression begged for sympathy.

"You bit his tail, sweetie," she said, shaking her head. "That's why he snapped at you," she tried explaining—again.

They'd all been gathered in the parlor, enjoying drinks, watching lazily as Benjamin played on the floor—he was often the center of attention at gatherings like this, especially when Abby was around—when the toddler had decided to yank the oldest Corgi's tale very hard and clamp his teeth down on it, and had dissolved into an offended tantrum when said Corgi nipped his shoulder in revenge.

"Bad dog!" shouted Benjamin at her, tears filling his large eyes again. He sniffled and laid his head against Gibbs, digging his hands into him.

"Ben, come to Mama," Jenny said, coming closer and holding her hands out. "Daddy's trying to cook," she coaxed.

Benjamin shook his head furiously.

"Daddy," he insisted. "_Daddy_!"

"I know you love Daddy," Jenny muttered, trying not to voice her annoyance. "Ben," she tried, reaching for him.

He shrieked and dissolved into tears again, plastering himself tightly against Gibbs—Gibbs was forced to step back from the stove and adjust his grip, hoisting Benjamin higher and pressing a kiss to the crown of his head. He shot Jen a glare.

"Mine, mine!" sobbed Benjamin, clinging to Gibbs and glaring at Jenny.

"I'm not going to take him away from you!" Jenny snapped softly, frustrated. She had been warned that Benjamin's age might result in some possessive behavior or attachment issues as he discovered the meaning of ownership, but she'd always expected he'd be attached to _her_.

She was his _mommy_, after all.

"Jen," said Gibbs tensely, running his hand soothingly over the two-year-old's back. "Leave 'im alone."

"I'm not going to put up with this, Jethro," she said quietly, her voice terse. "He can't fake cry and bully us into placating him—"

"Yeah, now's not the time to fight that battle," Gibbs retorted curtly, glancing out towards the hall to make sure none of the team was around to witness their spat. "It's easier on all of us if we just humor him," he growled.

"That's a cop-out," she retorted, placing a hand on her hip.

Gibbs glared at her.

"He isn't fake cryin', Jenny, the dog bit 'im," he added protectively.

"He bit the dog first!"

"He's just a kid!"

"The dog doesn't think that way," Jenny said, exasperated. She grit her teeth and leaned against the counter, her eyes running over her husband—Benjamin was still clinging to him, eyeing her with toddler-ish annoyance and suspicion, and it made her chest ache. She usually liked the sight of Gibbs holding Benjamin; particularly of Benjamin was 'helping' Daddy cook, but right now the mean nature behind it was bothering her more than endearing him to her.

Gibbs glanced at the stove and rubbed his forehead, frustrated himself—he didn't know when Benjamin had decided that he was the only one who could take care of him, but as much as Gibbs loved his son, he needed a damn break.

"He'll grow out of it," Gibbs said shortly. He glanced down. "Ben, you're hurtin' Mommy's feelings," he growled gently. He gestured his head. Jenny held her hands out. "You go cuddle with her a minute."

Benjamin glared at Jenny's hands.

"No," he snarled. "Daddy."

She dropped her hands to her sides.

"This doesn't make any sense," she lashed out. "Seven months in Italy, he didn't even know you existed—"

"Jen, don't bring that up—"

She winced, but shook her head.

"That's why he's hangin' on to me," Gibbs snorted. "Makin' up for those months."

"Did Kelly do that, after your deployments?"

"No," Gibbs retorted curtly. "She was like this with Shannon, not me."

Jenny sighed, and reached out, running her hand comfortingly over Gibbs' arm. She squeezed, and leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to his shoulder—he talked easily about Kelly most days, now, but she still didn't feel good about bringing the little girl up. Benjamin reached for her hair, pulled hard, and glared at her.

_"No,"_ he said emphatically. "Mine."

This time, Gibbs snatched the boy's hand and pulled it back firmly, turning on his heel and sitting Benjamin down pointedly on the counter.

"Son," he growled, looking him in the eye. "Do not hurt Mommy," he ordered, laying down the law.

Benjamin looked taken aback, and reached out his arms, grasping for Gibbs. Gibbs ignored him, and held the little boy's whiny gaze. He was trying to navigate this phase as much as Jenny was, but he put his foot down when it came to Benjamin abusing Jenny. Jenny pushed her hair back and grit her teeth, annoyed again—she _knew_ it was just a stage he was going through, but she hated it, and the arguments over how to deal with it were creating tensions between herself and Gibbs.

"Ben," Gibbs said again, aggressively. "You hear me? No-hurt-Mommy," he tapped his finger on Benjamin's knee. "You say 'sorry' to Mommy."

Benjamin's face crumpled and reddened again.

"Sowwy, Mommy," he wailed pitifully, grasping for Gibbs again. She looked stricken, and Gibbs rolled his eyes, setting his jaw and picking the toddler up again. He held him on his hip and grit his teeth, glancing at Jenny.

"He needs a nap," she started.

"Little dude still upset?" Tony DiNozzo's cheery, upbeat question broke into their moment of stress in the kitchen.

He strutted in with a few empty glasses, strolling over to the bottle of wine to get re-fills for the others.

He flashed a grin at Benjamin, who he had considered his little buddy for about a year now.

"S'okay, Man, Duchess bites me all the time just for lookin' at her," he said solemnly.

Benjamin was still crying unhappily, and Tony grinned at Jenny.

"He's loud," he snorted.

"Look who's talkin'," Jenny retorted tiredly.

Gibbs shot DiNozzo a glare, and the younger agent approached, eyeing the food with a longing look in his eye. Benjamin reared back from Gibbs, sitting up and blinking wearily and warily at DiNozzo. Gibbs saw Benjamin move possessively out of the corner of his eye and shot DiNozzo a warning look.

"Get away from me, DiNozzo," he warned.

DiNozzo looked shocked, offended, and hurt.

"I was just gonna steal some cranberry sauce, Gibbs, Jesus—what did I do to—"

"Tony," barked Jenny. "Now's not a good time."

He shot her a withering look and leaned forward to conspire with Benjamin.

"You're really makin your parent's cra—"

Benjamin lunged forward angrily and shoved his hand into Tony's face, butting his head into his shoulder and sinking his teeth into DiNozzo's flesh. Tony let out a shocked yelp and reared back, while both Jenny and Gibbs snatched Benjamin away from him.

"What the—" spluttered DiNozzo, looking petrified, backing into a corner.

Benjamin, safely in Jenny's arms now, kicked angrily, his face red and tear-streaked again, glaring at DiNozzo.

"Mine!" he shrieked at Tony. "_Mine_!"

His mother raised her eyes to the ceiling, exasperated, and held him tight around the waist.

"Daddy!" sobbed Benjamin.

Gibbs set his jaw and took him, ignoring the tense frustration in his muscles and trying to just be there.

DiNozzo swore, and Jenny glared at him. He lifted his shoulders, rubbing his shoulder and eyeing Benjamin suspiciously—his eyes wide.

"Who knew someone could love Gibbs that much?" he groused—and at that, Jenny laughed.

Gibbs shot DiNozzo a merciless glare and held Benjamin firmly, turning back to the Thanksgiving meal. He glanced down at his son and smirked, proud of him for biting DiNozzo, and pressed a paternal kiss to the side of his head.

To Benjamin, he muttered:

"Mine."

* * *

_November, 2002_

* * *

_-suggested by Flynn_

_-alexandra_


	3. Babysitter

_a/n: oh, you know: Tony being TONY..._

* * *

**March, 2003**

* * *

Tony never imagined that the first time he looked after the Boss's kid would be in such a scary situation. Well—to be honest, he'd never imagined he'd be looking after the kid at all, partly because he was terrified of toddlers, and partly because he was pretty sure Gibbs would rather leave Benjamin with wild kangaroos than his goofy senior agent. Gibbs was badly distracted at the moment, though, and Tony had noticed he was struggling to keep a handle on Ben in the waiting room, so on a whim he'd offered to take him down to the cafeteria and gift shop—and to his shock, Gibbs had handed Ben over and sat down in a corner with his head in his palms.

Tony blinked warily, while the two-year-old stared at him with wide, critical eyes—he had just come out of a wildly clingy phase, and Tony was unsure if he was about to start screaming for his father—

He decided it was best to get him out of eyesight of Gibbs before Ben realized what had happened, so he awkwardly adjusted him on his hip and marched towards the cafeteria with purpose, ignoring the intimidating way Ben was glaring at him while his little hands gripped Tony's shoulders.

He started to smirk when he got to the cafeteria, because nothing weird had happened yet, except suddenly Benjamin lunged forward, head-butted him, and laughed loudly.

"_Hey_," Tony growled, glaring at him.

Benjamin giggled again and put his thumb in his mouth.

"Hey, uh," Tony started. "I heard your mom say not to do that," he informed the kid awkwardly.

Benjamin stared at him defiantly, still sucking his thumb.

"Okay." Tony shrugged. "Little girls aren't into thumb suckers, though," he said, grabbing a booster seat thingy and placing it down in a chair. He sat down across from the two-year-old and arched an eyebrow.

Benjamin pulled his thumb out of his mouth and reached for his shoes silently, placing his feet on the table and starting to yank at the Velcro.

"Aw, come on," Tony muttered. "Why are you taking those off, little man?"

Benjamin looked at him mysteriously and started pulling off the shoes. Tony sighed, and frowned—why had he volunteered to do this again?—oh, yeah, because Gibbs wasn't acting like Gibbs, and he'd been oblivious to Ben tripping into a table and almost knocking over a nurse.

"Ben," Tony said. He glared. "Benjamin, keep your shoes on."

Benjamin paused. He left his shoes hanging half off and wiggled his feet, slouching down in his chair. He stared at Tony—he was a pretty quiet kid, most of the time, which apparently frustrated Shepard to no end, though Tony thought it was predictable, considering he was the progeny of an actual functional mute.

"Mama," Benjamin said clearly. He glared at Tony.

"Uh," Tony started warily. He looked around sheepishly, trying to think of something to say.

"Your mom is upstairs," he said lamely.

"Daddy," Benjamin tried.

"Uh, watching over Mom," Tony supplied.

"Timmy," Benjamin said.

"What? McGee? He's still at the scene," Tony said, and then flinched—probably shouldn't have mentioned the crime scene.

Benjamin pointed at Tony and narrowed his eyes.

"Timmy," he insisted. "Snack."

Tony blinked, and then gave the kid an outraged look. He pointed at himself.

"I'm _not_ Timmy," he retorted, wounded. "I'm Tony."

"Snack," Benjamin replied stubbornly.

"Ice cream?" Tony offered, glowering.

Benjamin sat up and nodded, smiling. He looked a lot more like his mother than he did Gibbs when he smiled, probably because Gibbs rarely smiled—at work, at least. Tony assumed Gibbs smiled at Shepard a lot when they were at home. Very Special Agent DiNozzo, first time babysitter, got up. He stood there a moment, and then he realized he couldn't leave a toddler alone at the table, so he picked him up and wandered over to the little café area with him. He got him a little cup of vanilla ice cream, and got himself two scoops of chocolate, and went back to their table.

Benjamin beamed happily.

"Timmy," he said.

Tony rolled his eyes, still offended.

"Yes?" he grunted.

"Mama sick?"

Tony looked at him warily again.

"Oh, she's uh, she's just…hurt," he fumbled, and then winced. "She was, ugh, rough-housing too much," he tried. He'd heard Gibbs order Ben to stop rough-housing with Ducky's dogs, so maybe he'd understand.

"Better?" Benjamin asked, holding his spoon towards DiNozzo seriously.

Tony smiled.

"You know she's gonna be fine, dude," he said seriously. He snorted, and watched Benjamin chow down. "You're handlin' this way better than your old man."

Benjamin said nothing, concentrating on chewing his spoon, and Tony tilted his head—he wondered what it was like to work on the same team as your wife. He hadn't really thought about it until Shepard had taken a hit and Gibbs had gone ballistic—he'd been at home with Benjamin, having switched shifts with her.

Benjamin kicked his feet, and his shoe flew off. Rolling his eyes, Tony bent to get it—but someone got there first. He sat up to thank the mysterious stranger, and found himself face-to-face with a very young, very cute blonde nurse. She held the shoe out to him, smiling, and bit her lip.

"He's _so_ cute," she sighed, glancing at Benjamin. She tucked a blonde hair behind her ear, and Tony took the shoe, a wry smirk breaking out over his face. Hey—a cute baby could work to his advantage.

He thanked the pretty nurse and got up to fasten Benjamin's shoe on.

"Work with me, buddy," he muttered, winking at the kid. He turned around, his hand on Benjamin's shoulder, and flashed a smooth smile at the girl.

"Takes after his dad," he said flirtatiously.

She folded her arms and leaned forward, wrinkling her nose.

"Aww," she cooed. "How old?"

"Two."

"What's his name?"

"Benjamin," Tony supplied.

"Old fashioned," giggled the blonde. "I like it," she said. She looked at Tony earnestly and bit her lip again. "Can I hold him? I just _love_ them at this age!"

Tony grinned smugly and hoisted Benjamin out of his chair, handing him over.

"Yeah, he likes chicks," he said suavely. "Just me'n him, y'know," he sighed.

"Oh, you're a single father?" the nurse asked. "That's _so_ sweet," she said. Her brow furrowed cutely and she gave him a slightly flirtatious look.

Benjamin stared at her suspiciously, leaning back. Tony gave him a thumb up, counting on him for back up, and Benjamin looked between them uncertainly.

"Timmy," he growled in a whiny voice.

"Tony," Tony corrected automatically, annoyed again.

The nurse tilted her head.

"Your son calls you Tony?" she asked.

"We're pretty progressive," Tony said breezily. "Gotta be, when you're a—"

"Daddy," Benjamin said loudly and demandingly. He lunged forward with his arms out, and Tony started to take him, oblivious to the fact that—

"Son," Gibbs said in a threatening voice, though the threat was all aimed at DiNozzo as he stepped around him and swept Benjamin right from the unnamed nurse's hands.

DiNozzo let out a squeak and turned pale, swallowing hard. He laughed nervously.

"Boss!" he yelped. "I was, uh, just—uh, jokin' around, I, uh—"

The nurse narrowed her eyes and glared at Tony, turning on her heel and walking away. Gibbs rounded on him, while Benjamin snickered at Tony, a stupidly smug look on his small little face.

"What the hell are you thinkin' DiNozzo?" growled Gibbs.

Tony tried to look sheepish, and shrugged.

"He's a ladies man, Gibbs, what can I say—" he started.

Gibbs reached out and head-slapped him mercilessly, glaring a bit longer for emphasis.

"She's in recovery," he grunted, running his hand over Benjamin's back. "She's fine," he added, and looked at the toddler. "You wanna see Mommy?" he asked.

Benjamin nodded.

Tony started trudging after sheepishly, while Benjamin seemed to gloat at him over Gibbs' shoulder. Tony stuck his tongue out at him and pouted, cursing Gibbs for interrupting his perfect pick-up game—

"You'd be a lot cuter if you were my kid," he grumbled.

Gibbs turned around and grabbed DiNozzo by his collar, yanking him in front and marching him firmly towards Shepard's room.

"You're gonna say that to Jen's face," he growled ominously. _"After_ you tell her what you did."

Tony _gulped_.

* * *

**March, 2003**

* * *

_-alexandra :)_


End file.
